Gripper.



B. F. MAYO.

GBIPPER.

APPLIOATION TILED 110v. 2, 1901. RENEWED we. 17, 1911.

1,015,388, 1 Patented Jan. 23, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO"WASHINGTON, D. c.

* 1 TE T7 BENJAMIN r. MAYO, or sALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIGNon To nmrn'nsacs MACHINERY COMPANY, or. PATERSON, New, JERSEY,-A coaronA'rroivor NEWJERSEY. I

,crnrrrnn. p I 1,015,388. p i t n? L Patent: 1 "PatentedJan. 23,19i2.

.Application filed November 2, 1967, sai ts. 4o0,395.;1ten ea August 17,1911, Serial va' eu a,

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. MAYO, acitizen of the United States, residing at Salem, in the county of Essexand Common wealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Grippers, of which the following description, connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters onthe drawings indicating like parts inthe several figures.

This invention relates to grippers mechanisms and particularly tomechanisms employed inworking an upper over a, last.

The upper material of a shoe usually comprises a plurality ofthicknessesof, stock including an upper and a lining. The lining'which is usuallyof cloth, although some times a thin leather lining is used, requiresvery little or no straining, but merely needs to be pulled sufiicientlyto remove possible wrinkles and cause it to fit'snugly' to the last. Theupper, however, often needsto be pulled sufficiently to stretch it more,or less and particularly at certain portions of the" shoe it isnecessary to pull-the upper severely to cause it towconform to the con--tour of the last. If the lining is pulled with the same force as theupper there is danger that the lining will be torn. Moreover, if theupper and lining are gripped and pulled alike therelativelyinelasticcloth linin'g frequently used in shoes oifers so muchresistance that it is necessary to actuate the grippers with great forcein order; to ,pull the upper into itsproper place. i -f Importantobjects of this invention are to avoid tearing or excessively strainingthe shoe lining and to obviate the need fornsing so much power inactuating the grippers tof pull the upper. j To this end the presentinvention contemplates the use of grippers which hold the upperandlining separately and, preferably, permit the liningto slip between thejaws whilethe upperv is being pulled to a greater extent than thelining;

An important feature "of this invention consists in .a' grippersmechanism having provision for grippmg one thickness of stock, as a shoeupper, with less force than another thickness of, stock, such as a shoelining. The lining is thus enabled to slip in the grippers while;

the upper continues to be held and pulled; In the preferred embodimentofthe inven-- tion'tlre-means for gripping the lining yielding .withrelation to the means for more securely held than. theliningJ- V L Inaccordance with another "feature of the gripping the upper, whereby the,upper is forces withwhich'the upper andlining are held and pulledmay bevaried according to the requirements of diiferent conditions; As

shown, the means for actuating the jaws for grlppingthe lining includesa yieldingaele- ,Inent and'provision for adjusting the pres- 'able jawsand an intermediate jaw, "of single; operating device for actuatingboth;

,sure applied by the yielding element. The v gripping faces engaging theupper and those engaging'the lining may" be formed relativelygasdesired, but preferably the faces engaging the lining will be designedto allow thelinlng to slip between them more" or less freelyi U Afu'ther feature of the invention; consists in thecombination with a pairof mov theou'ter jaws'toward the intermediatejawl;

As shown, theflintermediate jaw'is' rigidly mounted and theouterjawsvare formed with arms engaging the operating device bywhich they aremoved together in oppositedirec t-ions toward they-fixed'inter1nediate;jaw.1

The arm of one ofthe jaws is secured there- 7 to by the yieldingconnection above referred l to l which comprisesl a spring-pressed plunger hav,ing a wedge-shaped end carriedby the arm-rand seated betweeninclined walls of the jaw, An adjusting screw provides means for varyingthe tensionofthespring.

movement of the arm and jaw by causing and the force, required to'produce, relative;- I

' the plunger to, ride up an inclined face of the jaw. "The yielding;connection has also 1 theadvaritagethat 'it materials of; rdifi'erent.thicknesses to be rgripped atone, v

side of the grippers without-affecting the.

hold which'the other gripping faces bbtain 1 upon thestock interposedbetween them.

grippers mecl1anis'm whicl1 is intended tow thicknesses of the-stockheldconsistsin ar-o" ranging the means for engaglng one thick- A further ,7feature of the invention in a apply different; pulling forces to"different ness of stock so vthat it can move in theidirection ofthQ-pull1Ilg strain; relatively to o the means for, engag ng anotherthickness,

of the stock. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention in whichone thickness of stock, as the upper is gripped between one outer jawand the intermediate jaw and another thickness of stock is grippedbetween the intermediate jaw and the other outer jaw, one or both ofthegripping faces engaging the lining are formed on blocks which arearranged to yield in the direct-ion of the pulling strain. This yieldingmovement takes place against the tension of springs which are arrangedto offer an increasing resistance as the movement progresses. By thisarrangement the lining and the yieldingly mounted blocks may pulldownwardly while the upper is being strained, but the blocks will remainin engagement with the lining so that itwill not slip entirely out ofthe grippers and the pull upon it be wholly lost.

These and other features of the invention, including certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will be explained in thefollowing description and point-ed out in the claims.

In the drawings :.Figure 1 is a front view partly in section of agrippers mechanism embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective viewshowing the operating mechanism for the grippers and a modification inthe formation of the jaws; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 butshowing the grippers partly closed and Figs. 4 and 5 show amodification.

The rigid gripper jaw 2 is firmly secured by the bolt 4 to the supportor casing 6. The pivoted jaw 8 on one side of the rigid jaw is fulcrumedon the pin 10 and has an upwardly extending arm 12. The pivoted jaw 14is fulcrumed on the pin 15 and has an upwardly extending arm 16. The jaw14 and arm 16 are formed separately, the hub of the jaw fitting into thebifurcated hub of the arm and being provided with a V-shaped recess intowhich fits the tapered head of a spring-pressed plunger 18. The tensionof the spring may be adjusted by a screw 20 tovary the resistance torelative movement of the jaw and arm. The jaws 8 and 14 are actuatedtoward the fixed jaw to grip the stock by a slide 25, herein called theoperating device, which carries a roll 26, a hub 27 and a pin 28 forengagement with the arms 12 and 16. The roll 26 is located between thearms, which overlap as shown, and in ,the upward movement of theoperating device wedges between the arms to force the jaws together. Thehub and the pin engage respectively with the arms 12 and 16 to open thejaws when the operating device is moved downwardly. The device slides inthe casing and is connected by a hook 29 with an endwise movable bar 30,the upper end of which is connected to a lever 32. The lever rocks on afixed fulcrum 34 and at its rear end is connected by a slide 35 with acam 36 by which the lever and bar are moved upwardly and downwardly. Thecasing 6 has shoulders at 38 to engage a fixed support at 39 and limitthe downward movement of the casing and the gripper jaws. A spring 40 isinterposed bet-ween the operating bar and a cross piece 42 of thecasing. This spring is compressed when the bar is moved downwardly toforce the operating device into position to open the jaws and the springholds the casing and the jaws down until the bar and operating devicehave risen far enough to close the jaws firmly upon the stock afterwhich the jaws are lifted to pull the stock.

In grippers intended for working an upper over a last the pivoted jaw 8and the intermediate rigid jaw 2 are formed on their adjacent sides withgripping faces formed by roughening or corrugat-ing them, to hold theupper leather securely while it is being pulled. The other pivoted jaw14 and the adjacent side of the intermediate jaw have gripping faceswhich are preferably formed to engage the lining less securely than theupper is engaged. The smoother formation of the faces gripping thelining and the yielding connection between the jaw 14 and its arm 16 areboth designed to facilitate the slipping of the lining after it has beenpulled to the desired extent and while the upper continues to bestrained by pulling it through a greater distance. By adjusting thescrew 20 the extent to which the lining will be pulled before it slipsmay be changed to vary relatively the degree of strain applied to theupper and the lining. It will also be observed that the yieldingconnection or element between the jaw 14 and the operating devicepermits a firm grip to be obtained by this jaw upon stock varying inthickness without affecting the grip obtained by the jaw 8,notwithstanding both jaws are actuated by the same operating device. To

this end the jaw 14 will preferably be arranged to close upon a minimumthickness of stock while the jaw 8 is gripping a thick portion of uppermaterial. The jaw 14 will then yield with relation to its arm 16 when athicker lining is gripped or when a thinner upper stock is seized by thejaw 8.

In addition to the provision made by the yielding connection 18 for thelining to slip or instead of that provision the gripping faces thatengage the lining may be formed on sliding blocks 50, as shown inFig. 5,that are arranged to move relatively to the body portion of the jaws inthe direction of the pulling strain. The sliding blocks 50 are held innormal position by springs 52 against the tension of which they may moveduring the pulling operation. Adjusting devices 54 regulate the tensionof the springs according to the strain to which it is desired to subjectthe lining.

g In the use of the invention one thickness of the stock, as, forexample, ashoe upper, will be inserted between the jaws 8 "and'2 andanother thickness, as a shoe lining, between the jaws 2 and 14; When thelever 32 is actuated by'the cam 36 the operating device 25 draws theroll 26 up between the. arms 12' and 16 to close the jawsfirinly uponthe stock while the jaws and the'casing are held from rising bythespring 40. I hen the uplifting force of the lever overcomes the tensionof the spring the grippers are raised and pull upon the upper and thelining. When the slack has been taken out of the lining and ithasbeendrawn to the last with the desired tension, determined by-theadjustment of the yieldingelement 18, the lining will slip between the jaws 2 and 14 while'the upper continues-to be held and pulled through agreater distance. If the sliding blocks 50are employed they will gripthe lining and pull it with the upper until the resistance ofthe liningovercomes the frictional resistance to movement of the blocks in theirjaws and also the resistance of the springs 52, after which the blockswill move downwardly in the aws. Qne advantage possessed by the grippershaving sliding blocks is that thestock does not pull out of the jaws,causing the tension on it to be lost as may sometimes occur when thestock slips between slide.

Having explained the nature of my invengripping faces that donot 'tionand fully described one embodiment thereof,'I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a grippers.mechanism, means; ,forseparately gripping and pulling a shoe upper and ashoe lining, said 1nechanis1inbe-= ing constructed and arranged to causethe upper to be gripped'with greater force than the lining is gripped; fi

2. In a grippers ,mechanisni, means for separately gripping and pullinga shoe upper and a shoelining, combined with actuating mechanismconstructed arranged to cause the upper to begripped harder thantheli'ning is'gripped.

. 3. In a grippers mechanism, means for separately gripping and pulling.a shoe upper and a shoe l1ii ng,-combined with actuating mechanismhaving provision for adjustment to vary the relative forces with whichthe upper and lining are gripped.

4. In a grippers mechanismfmeans for gripping a shoe upper and means forgripping a shoe lining, combined with a grippers closing device, aconnection between the upper gripping means and saiddevice, and aconnection including a' yielding element between the closing device andthe means'for ping 'a shoe lining, combined with a grippers. closingdevice, a connection between the upper gripping means and said device,and i a connection including "a yielding element between the closingdevice and the means forgripping the lining, said mechanism v5. In agrippers mechanism, means for gr pping a shoe upper and means for gripwhaving provision for adjusting the relative forces with which the upperand'lining are gripped. 1 1 v 1 6. In a grippers mechanism, a pair .of'

strueted and arranged toengage superposed portions of the upper materialof alshoe;

, combined with .meansincluding a member adapted to be wedged betweensaid arms for actuating the two outerj-aws in opposite d1-" the stock]v,In a grippers mechanism, a P2111. of

rections toward the intermediate jaw to grip movable jaws, a rigidintermediate jaw,and.

a single operating idevice; said mechanism. .lllClLlCllIlg provisionforad ustment to per 'mit-tlie'rforceapplied with" which one movi able:jawi is actuated to'grip stock :to be varied. relatively to the otherjaw is actuated."

intermediate jaw, an" operating device ..f,o,r

'tion'between one of the jaws and its arm, said connection includ ng aspring-pressed of tli'e spring acting on the plunger.

force with which the 9. In agrippers n echalnism, a pair of movable awshtLVlIlgOPBI'ELtlllg arms, arigid engaging the arms, and a yieldingCOIlIlQC-L 10. In a grippers mechanism, means for separately grippingtwosuperposed portions of stock. and pulling the stock, comprising--aplural ty' of gripping menibers,fone' of whichis"arranged to moverelatively ,toan} other in the directionof the-pulling strain while the?stock is'u'nder tension.

outer gripper 'in'embersZand a rigid' intermei I di ate gripper'member,and; means toractuating said members to grip and pull stock, saidmechanism having provision for movement" of one of the outer grippermembers "in'the direction of the pulling strain while thestock is'un dertension. Y J 122' In a grippers mechanism, means 11 01 separatelygripping two superposed portions gripping the linin 11,-;In a grippersmechanism, a pair; .01 i

relatively to the other outer gripper member L of'stock and pulling thestock, comprising gripping members engaging one portion of the stockwhich are movable in the direction of the pulling strain relatively tothe members engaging the other portion of the stock.

13. I11 a grippers mechanism, opposed jaws having sliding blocksprovided with gripping faces and arranged to move relatively to the jawsin the direction of the pulling strain while the gripped stock is heldunder tension.

14. In a grippers mechanism, opposed jaws having sliding blocksyieldingly mounted in the jaws and provided with gripping faces, saidmechanism being constructed and arranged to permit the blocks to yieldin the direction of the pulling strain while the gripped stock is heldunder tension.

15. In a grippers mechanism, opposed jaws, blocks having gripping facesarranged for sliding movement in the jaws in the direction of thepulling strain to be applied by the mechanism, springs for resisting themovement of the blocks, and means for adjusting the springs. I

16. In a grippers mechanism, opposed jaws, a block having a grippingface arranged for sliding movement in one jaw, and an adjustable springfor resisting the movement of the block.

17. In a grippers mechanism, a gripper jaw and an operating arm thereforformed separately and pivotally connected, and a spring pressed plungermounted in one of said members and arranged to engage the other memberfor holding the jaw and the arm yieldingly in normal relation to oneanother.

18. In a grippers mechanism, the combination with a jaw and means forsupporting it, of a second jaw having a supporting arm pivotallyconnected therewith, and yielding means for normally holding the pivotedjaw and arm yieldingly in predetermined relation to one another.

19. In a grippers mechanism for a pullingover machine, a rigid jaw,movable j aws on opposite sides of the rigid jaw and having grippingfaces disposed directly opposite to one another, one of said movable awsbeing shaped and arranged to extend downwardly between the side ofthelast and the shoe lining and the other movable jaw having a face togrip the finished outer side of the shoe upper, means for yieldinglyactuating one movable jaw toward the fixed jaw, and means acting in arelatively unyielding 1nanner to press the other movablejaw against thefixed jaw.

20. In a grippers mechanism for a pullingover machine, a pair of movablejaws having gripping faces disposed opposite to one another and havingupwardly extending operating arms extending into proximity to oneanother, an intermediate jaw, an automatically actuated operating devicearranged between said arms to wedge them apart for closing the jaws uponthe work, and a yielding connection between one of the jaws and its arm.I

21. In a grippers mechanism for a pulling-over machine',a rigid jaw,movable jaws -on opposite sides of the rigid jaw and hav ing grippingfaces disposed directly opposite to one another, one of said movablejaws being shaped and arranged to extend downwardly between the side ofthe last and the shoe lining and the other movable jaw having a face togrip the finished outer side of the shoe upper, and means for actuatingthe two movable jaws with different forces appropriate for causing thegrip on the upper to be maintained while the lining may slip frombetween the jaws.

22. In a grippers mechanism for a pulling-over machine, a pair ofmovable jaws having gripping faces disposed opposite to one another andhaving upwardly extending operating arms extending into proximity to oneanother, an intermediate jaw, automatically actuated operating means forsaid arms and a connection between one of the movable jaws and its armarranged to permit the force applied in actuating that jaw to be variedrelatively to the force applied in actuating the other jaw.

23. In a grippers mechanism for a pulling-over machine, a rigid aw,movable aws on opposite sides of the rigid jaw and having gripping facesdisposed directly opposite to one another, one of said movable jawsbeing shaped and arranged to extend downwardly between the side of thelast and the shoe lining and the other movable aw having a face to gripthe finished outer side of the shoe upper, and connections between oneof the outer members and its actuating means constructed and arranged topermit that member to move relatively to the other outer member in thedirection of the pulling strain while the stock is under tension.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. MAYO.

IVitnesses ELIZABETH C. COUPE, ARTHUR L. RUssnLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C.

